Hello my beauties,
This piece has been sitting in my head for so long that I've finally decided to write it down and share it with you.
Tell me — do you ever catch yourself looking in the mirror with a critical eye, zeroing in on the one small detail that bothers you, fixating on it until you can no longer see the beauty of your whole face, your whole body, your whole self?
In a world running on a cult of performance, where the bar keeps rising, where the images social media hands back to us are run through beautifying filters that leave us endlessly questioning ourselves, I want to invite you to love your imperfections instead.
That inner critic we all carry is always on watch: is that wrinkle getting deeper? Is that brown spot more visible than before? Is that under-eye puffiness new? Did that blemish just decide to show up uninvited... ugh, and that little roll that ruins the line of my dress. Sound familiar? Welcome to the club.
The good news? We all carry these little hang-ups. We hide them more or less well, we accept them more or less well.
The cosmetics industry rides these fears, both small and large, so well — because yes, we all still want to be desired, to like ourselves first, and we all look, to some degree, for validation in the eyes of others, ideally the people we love.
And yet this idea of perfection is so illusory. It's so far from love, so boring — and once you reach it, you know what happens? You go looking for another imperfection to fix.
And yet these small imperfections are exactly what sign our unique worth. What we reject in ourselves is often what draws people in, what makes us unique, memorable, unforgettable.
So instead of the relentless fight against our imperfections, I want to offer you full acceptance: accept who you are, what you are, completely and unconditionally.
Is that hard? Yes, it is. Is it impossible? No, not at all. The fight lets us avoid sitting with our own demons, our fears, our anxieties. Running endlessly at least gives us the feeling of doing something about it. I'd rather invite you to sit with it instead.
Can I tell you a story? Our whipped body cream, Mousse Moi Encore, is an anomaly in the world of cosmetics. Normally, we do everything possible to keep air bubbles out of a cream.
I'd developed this formula before Les Jardins de Jaina launched. I was going to see my friend Idee2look and wanted to give her a birthday gift — something that would spark a little childlike surprise, a little wonder, and a touch of sensuality; something to invite out the lover in her, the playful woman who might imagine a game with whipped cream. So I whipped it up, gave it to her, she loved it, she posted about it — and that's how Les Jardins de Jaina began.
And yet I was embarrassed by this cream. I was afraid people wouldn't like it. I over-explained it before presenting it to anyone. I hid it from my peers in cosmetics... those bubbles of imperfection, I carried them like a cross.
That cream is now the star of everything we make. You're obsessed with it. It still sparks that same surprise, that same childish joy of dipping a finger into whipped cream — like a kid who knows they're doing something a little naughty, and it feels so good! That imperfection became its whole identity, because let's be honest, there are plenty of good body moisturizers out there. A cream that crackles under your finger, that wakes up the playful side of you... there's only one, and its name carries its own signature: "Mousse Moi Encore" ("Whip Me Again"). It doesn't take itself seriously. It simply is.
So my dears — those slightly rounded cheeks, those laugh lines you don't quite own yet but that give you such a joyful look, that very visible beauty mark that's become your signature, those eyelids you might not love but that give your gaze such softness — love them. Cherish them. And the next time you look in the mirror, really look, soul to soul, not just in Instagram mode.
And love yourself. So much. You deserve it so much. Cosmetics are here to enhance you — never forget that. If you feel beautiful for yourself, you'll shine without limit, and do you know how sexy, how beautiful, how self-assured a radiant woman is?
Try it, and tell me how it goes.
Always with love and plants.